Black Sabbath, The Complete Studio Albums 1970-1978

Rhino’s rolling out a box set today that collects Black Sabbath’s studio albums from 1970 through 1978... and if that announcement is giving you a strange sense of déjà vu, allow us to freely acknowledge that, yes, we have done this before. But it’s been awhile since we released the so-called Black Box, which collected the band’s output from the same time frame, and that was also a set designed to appeal to both to fans and collectors. This set, meanwhile, is more for those who want the kick-ass music but don’t necessarily care about the kick-ass packaging offered by the previous box. (Also, the other one’s out of print, so if you missed out on that one, this is the only way to get all of the albums in one handy-dandy package.)

So what’s in here? Why, the band’s first eight albums, of course: that means you get Black Sabbath, Paranoid, Master Of Reality, Black Sabbath Vol. 4, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Sabotage, Technical Ecstasy, and Never Say Die!

Now, if you’re wondering if you get the DVD that’s contained in Black Box, the answer is that, no, you do not. Do you get that set’s liner notes? Nope, you don’t get that, either. But what you do get is the music... and the music, as you probably already know, is very, very good, indeed.